A Love Like That
by obsessedwithstabler
Summary: More than life itself, no one else, this endless promise. They don't make love like that anymore. Is that too much to be asking for?


Okay, this one broke my heart as I was writing it. This whole story was inspired by the beautiful Heidi Newfield song, Johnny and June, and I've always thought that it described EO wonderfully. But be forewarned: This is a MASSIVE tearjerker story! So grab a box of Kleenex, enjoy, and please remember to review!

Disclaimer: SVU and the Johnny and June lyrics are NOT mine!! NOT MINE!! *cries*

SVUSVUSVUSVUSVUSVUSVU

_I want a love like Johnny and June_

_Rings of fire burning with you_

_I wanna walk the line, walk the line_

_Till the end of time_

_I wanna love, love you that much_

_Cash it all in, give it all up_

_And when you're gone, I wanna go, too_

_Like Johnny and June_

Don Cragen never thought he'd see this day.

As a cop, logically, he knew that any day could be the day. A bullet, a well placed thrust from a knife in the hand of a maniac, even a car accident while chasing a perp. He had accepted his own mortality years ago. It was just a part of the job, but an all too tragic reality.

Now he was staring that reality in the face, and for the hundredth time, he wished that it could have been him, instead. To take him would have been much more fair. He really had no living relations to speak of. His beloved wife had died before he ever joined SVU. And really, the people under his command had become like a family to him. They became his children, something he had taken great pride in.

He pulled at the tie around his neck, suddenly unable to catch his breath. It had been beyond cruel, this past week. Two people so close to his heart had been ripped away from him, two people who were as close to his own flesh and blood as he had. Maybe the only kind thing was that they had gone together. If one had been left to live in the wake of this devastation…

He shuddered as his mind went back to that terrible day. They had been chasing after a suspect who had stolen a pregnant woman's car and was trying to flee the city. He hadn't been there when their SUV rolled, but as soon as he knew what had happened, he had flown to the scene of the accident. Time had slowed down from there.

The vehicle of the perp that they had been chasing was on fire, but that didn't matter to him. What mattered was the body covered by a sheet on the sidewalk, and Cragen felt his heart sink as he came closer. Someone hadn't made it, and for a brief moment, he prayed that it wasn't one of his detectives.

Then a sudden wail reached his ears, and his heart broke into irreparable pieces when he recognized the owner of the voice. Olivia. He broke into a jog toward their SUV in time to see a team of paramedics lift her onto a stretcher. Her body was bloody and broken, and he felt a sudden surge of bile when he saw the life threatening gash in her side. In vain he looked into the window of the SUV, hoping against hope that he might see Elliot. But deep down, he knew that the detective he loved like a son was laying under a sheet on the sidewalk a few yards away.

Olivia's agonized cries brought him back to the stretcher, and he ran alongside the medics as they hurried toward a waiting bus. "Is she going to be okay?" he demanded, and one medic turned to look at him. The look in the medic's eyes was doubtful, and it told Cragen that it didn't look good.

"Don't know, sir!" he replied, moving fast. "We have to get her out of here, now!"

Cragen held up a shaking hand. "Can I ride with her?"

He shook his head. "We need room to work!"

The doors slammed shut, but not before Cragen heard the weak voice of the woman he loved like a daughter calling for her partner.

"Elliot!"

He opened his eyes again when he realized that someone was standing beside him.

Munch put a hand on his captain's shoulder and removed his glasses, revealing his swollen and bloodshot eyes.

Neither man said a word, and Cragen's mind went back in time once more. He had gotten to the hospital as fast as he could, leaving it to another officer to inform Elliot's ex-wife that he was gone. Olivia needed him more at that moment, and he wasn't going to let her down.

She was in surgery by the time he reached the hospital, and he had found the nearest waiting room and sat down. Within a half hour, the room was filled with people who loved Olivia and wanted to support her. They talked quietly amongst themselves, trading silly stories about both Elliot and Olivia and comforting each other. But Cragen barely paid any attention to any of them, and Munch and Fin were worried when not even they could reach him, though they understood. They had already lost one person that they all cared deeply for. They didn't want to lose Olivia, too.

Only two hours into their wait, a doctor in bloody scrubs entered the room, and a collective breath was held as every person in the room turned to face him.

He looked through his file. "Don Cragen?"

Cragen appeared through the group and went to him, but the look on the doctor's face told him the news wasn't good. "I'm Don Cragen."

"You should come with me, sir."

Cragen looked over his shoulder at the sea of sad faces, then followed the doctor out of the waiting room.

The doctor led him to a room upstairs, but before he opened the door, he looked at Cragen. "Mr. Cragen, I'm very sorry to have to tell you this, but Mrs. Stabler had massive internal bleeding that we couldn't get under control."

Cragen felt his stomach drop. "Is she... Is..." He couldn't bring himself to say the word. He just couldn't.

The other man gave him a sympathetic look. "She's alive, but I doubt that she'll make it through the night." He pushed the door open. "If she has a husband or any family, you should call them. She's not going to last much longer."

Cragen stared at the doctor as bile crept up in his throat. Olivia was dying. "I...I'll stay with her." He swallowed a groan. "Her husband was in the accident, also. But he died at the scene."

The doctor nodded, nodding toward the door. "Go in there. If you need anything or if anything is wrong, just call for a nurse." He patted Cragen's shoulder before walking away.

Cragen hesitated before easing into the room, and the sight that greeted him nearly brought him to his knees. Olivia's bed was surrounded by machinery, and her normally olive skin was frighteningly pale. He moved closer to the bed and picked up her cool hand, holding it between both of his.

She never regained consciousness, and just two hours later, she finally gave up fighting and slipped away from them. He had been right there with her, and when her heart stopped beating, he felt tears slide his cheeks as he leaned over and kissed her forehead.

A tug on his shirt interrupted his thoughts, and he turned and looked down into a pair of chocolate eyes that were hauntingly familiar. He swallowed a lump in his throat and leaned down, gathering Emma into his arms and hugging her tight.

Comforted by her grandfather, Emma snuggled into his chest and stuck her thumb in her mouth.

Cragen held her close and kissed her long, dark hair. She was only two and had no real understanding that they had just buried her parents. He patted her back and fought back tears as Alex approached him and quietly called his name. He turned his head and looked at the tiny blue bundle cradled carefully in her arms, and he almost broke down again. For a short while after their deaths, he was steeling himself to fight for custody. Then their lawyer had shown him their will, which had stated that if anything happened to both of them, they wanted him to have custody of little Emma and Elliot. It really made sense, since Olivia had no family and Elliot's family wanted nothing to do with the two children. So Cragen had assumed custody of the toddler and newborn who had lost their parents long before they should have.

He didn't have children of his own, and the daunting prospect of raising Elliot and Olivia's children on his own scared the hell out of him. But he loved his grandchildren, and he was determined not to let them down.

He shifted Emma to one arm and gently took Elliot into his free arm, kissing the head of each child. Then he turned away from the graves of his detectives, his friends, his children.

Alex and Munch followed him out of the cemetery, and as Munch slipped his sunglasses back on, something in the corner of his eye caught his attention.

There was a hill with a large oak tree a short distance away from the cemetery, and for a moment, Munch could have sworn that he saw two figures standing under that oak tree. As he watched, they linked hands and walked down the other side of the hill, disappearing from sight.

Munch felt the strangest sensation go down his spine, and as he slipped an arm around his wife and pulled her close, he finally felt at peace.

"We'll take care of them," he whispered, his words floating on the warm summer breeze that seemed to embrace the small group.

"I promise."

_When we're gone, there'll be no tears to cry_

_Only memories of our life_

_They'll remember, remember_

_A love like that_

The End.

A/N: *cries* I know, so sad! But at least little Emma and Elliot have a good home! I really do see something like this happening with them. They can't live without each other, and if we don't get a happy series finale, I suspect the ending might go something like this. Thank you for reading, and if you aren't too sad, please review!


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